Thursday, March 18, 2010

Set up by Labour, run by Labour for the benefit of Labour, City Building funnells taxpayers money and jobs to Labour Party and its members













Dear All

The Labour controlled Glasgow City Council set up City Building under its former leader Steven ‘bin laden’ Purcell.

City Building is riddled with Labour party placemen and women, now the quango is in trouble for a £2,000 donation to swell the Labour Party funds.

Labour Council of shame sets up City Building; they in turn fund the Labour Party.

And it’s public taxpayer money being diverted to the Labour Party.

The £2,000 donation was for City Building taking a table at Labour Party’s annual fundraising dinner in January 2009.

This is totally wrong and unethical.

Pressure is now on for the Labour Party to return public money back to Glasgow City Council.

On top of that the sheer greed of senior executives at City Building beggars belief, in the space of two years it has doubled its wage bill for executives.

Then there are their executives renting luxury cars, including Mercedes Benz through the business.

And it doesn’t stop there with City Building inviting a host of Labour politicians to hospitality events, such as

Labour MSP Iain Gray
Michael McCann, a senior Labour councillor in South Lanarkshire
Glasgow Labour Councillors;
Gerry Leonard
Gordon Matheson
Stephen Curran
Aileen Colleran
James Scanlon
Bob Winter
George Redmond
Frank Docherty
George Ryan
Alistair Watson
Philip Braat
John McKenzie
Euan McLeod
Jim Todd
Allan Stewart
Paul Rooney
Irfan Rabbani
Archie Graham

Then we have the case of the City Building development manager, Lesley Quinn and no surprise she has been a senior figure in the Labour Party and guess what, she walks straight into an unadvertised job.

They refuse to answer any questions about her, when she started work, how she was appointed, her job description or her pay.

Of 18 corporate hospitality events held by City Building in the 2008-9 financial year, Labour councillors were entertained at 11 of them.

There were no SNP councillors at any of the 18 dinners and other hospitality events hosted by City Building in 2008-9.

It is clear that there has to be a formal public inquiry into the Glasgow Labour controlled City Council and the quangos set up by them.

A spokesman for City Building said;

"We engage with all political parties on issues affecting our business, in particular our supported workshop, Blindcraft, which employs some of the most vulnerable people in our community”.

Engagement is one thing; funnelling taxpayer money to a specific political party is something else.

And the rules are clear; Electoral Commission rules explicitly prohibit a local authority from donating money to a political party and trying to hide behind company rules won’t wash.

Standby for Labour Party member and head of City Building William Docherty possibly saying ‘we acted in good faith and the rules weren’t clear’.

The SNP Government has a clear duty to set up an inquiry as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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